Spending time in Napa with dad

Spending time with my dad is always time well spent. My dad - he is so optimistic, happy, friendly and funny. He is caring, helpful and well, just super fun to be around. After he took us out for burgers and we arrived to his place on Thursday evening he helped Dennis replace the window motor. 

Dad had to work on Friday so he told us of some places worth seeing / eating at within walking distance from his condo.  



Dad suggested that we try ButterCream for breakfast - it was super tasty. Dennis and I both got pastries and I think that dad got a healthier breakfast (he was able to meet us for a late breakfast). 



This is some of the earthquake damage that we saw. Dad was living in Napa when they had the earthquake just a couple of months prior to us visiting him. 

Saturday:
We really enjoyed time together on Saturday. He took us to Tiburon, CA and to Angel Island. We had such a fun day with him. 



One vineyard in Napa - it was awesome seeing grapes on the vines

A palm tree in Tiburon, CA. I have an aunt that lives in Tiburon - and that is also where Robin Williams lived. My auntie knew Robin. 














From Tiburon, we boarded a ferry and rode to Angel Island. This is the Golden Gate Bridge from the ferry!



Dad - being a tourist - taking a picture with his tablet! :)



Another typical dad pose - on his telephone! 

Arriving on Angel Island. It once was a military base and it's possible to camp there now. It has quite the history and is a beautiful island.



Dennis and I went on a hike and the higher we went - the more we could see. The scenery from this island is amazing.



I'm pretty sure these houses were ones in Tiburon, CA



Me with San Francisco and Alcatraz Island in the background



San Francisco!















Alcatraz Island with San Fran in the background! 



My handsome hubby



And my amazing dad



After our tour of Angel Island, we came back into Tiburon and ate lunch there. 



This is a vineyard house that we saw on our way back to dads condo.

Unfortunately - our trip to visit dad was way too short. We ended up leaving soon after we got to dad's condo and headed north. We wanted to be in meeting with one of our friends on Sunday morning in Medford, OR. It was hard leaving dad, though, our time with him was so special. It makes me super thankful that I have such a loving family. Thanks again, dad for your wonderful hospitality and your generosity too. Hopefully we'll visit you at another one of your job locations! 

Road trip to California

(Once again, I am going to try and update my blog - from 2 years ago) 

Dennis and I decided to take a mini road trip between the end of my office job and the start of my nanny job. We thought of several options of where to visit including: Crater Lake, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite National Park, San Juan Islands and Napa, CA (where my dad was working and living). I thought that we could fit all but the San Juan Islands into a 5 day road trip - but then figured that would be way too much to do and too stressful. We decided on Lake Tahoe and Napa. 

We drove to Klamath Falls on Tuesday evening, spent the night and then Wednesday morning woke up and drove to Lake Tahoe, through Reno. It was my first time in Reno! We stopped by a casino so that we could walk through. I believe it was my first time in a casino and it was really interesting to me. It seemed super dark in there. We watched some people play cards and others play slot machines. 

We were so excited to get to the lake and had just pulled into a parking lot ... when ... the drivers side window in the pickup would not roll up. Oh no! We decided to drive north to Truckee, CA to a NAPA auto parts store to see if they had the needed part in stock. They did - however, we were unable to replace the broken part ourselves. We headed back south to Lake Tahoe and arrived there in the dark. We did stop for a while so that Dennis could take pictures of the moon rising over the lake. We finally got to our hotel in south Lake Tahoe and enjoyed the nights rest.

Thursday, we drove on the west side of the lake and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. We hiked a mile and toured Vikingholm Castle - a must see for anyone who visits Lake Tahoe. We also went swimming in the lake this day! Lake Tahoe is extremely blue and clear - when we opened our eyes under the water, it looked Caribbean blue! I wish we had pictures - it was that amazing! :)

Lake Tahoe is so blue and beautiful!

The only island on the lake

At a viewpoint 

Lake Tahoe is super clear

  

Vikingsholm Castle!

I wanted so badly to play this piano - but we weren't allowed to touch anything in the house. Inside Vikingsholm Castle had such an inviting feeling!

There is history behind almost everything in the castle. (The following is taken from a website about the Vikingsholm Castle): Many antiques were purchased for the home in the countries abroad. Mrs. Knight greatly admired some pieces seen in Norwegian and Swedish museums, which were not available for purchase. When she encountered such situations she hired craftsmen to make copies of the museum pieces. They were produced to exact detail, even to the aging of the wood and duplicating of scratches on the originals. The brightly painted bridal table, which stands in the living room, represents the quality of these outstanding reproductions. Fortunately many of Mrs. Knight’s original furnishings remain in the home today.

I really like the fireplace in this bedroom. So much character! 

A guest room in the castle

The dining room table

"Selma" the clock

The actual car Mrs. Knight's chauffeur drove

 

The view from the living room windows! I was ready to move into the castle! :)

Then Thursday afternoon, we drove from Lake Tahoe to Napa (all the the drivers side window down) in 98 degree weather! 

And we were so happy to see this very fine gentleman - and to eat at In-N-Out Burger! 

Seeing my dad is always a treat! 

I will put the rest of our trip in another post, as clearly this one is quite long enough! :) 

Stay tuned! 

Grandma Smith turns 80

The day after I quit my office job, we headed to Seattle to celebrate my grandma's 80th birthday party! There was quite a lot of people who came to wish her happy birthday and we had a fun time. 

Typical Smith gatherings - lots of chattering and happy hellos!  

The lead up to an awesome photo session of Grandpa, Grandma and their 8 kids! The posing, checking each others teeth, getting ready, fighting over who they do and don't want to stand by. Does sibling rivalry every go away?!? - Come on Uncle Steve, you need to get in the picture! 

The reach ... Grandpa's phone rang and he was reaching for it to answer it. Auntie Amy was trying to stop him ... was she successful? 

Nope! My grandma, aunts, uncles and dad laughing at Grandpa! 

Oh no! Now everyone has a phone call? 

Phew, finally! 

Bentley James!

Ellia and I have a thorn on our noses!

My Jensen grandparents came! How lucky am I - to be 35 and have both sets of grandparents living ... AND to see them all in the same day! 

Grandpa and Grandma Smith

Talking with Evie! My cousins sure make cute kids! 

We had a great day celebrating Grandma's birthday! It is awesome whenever my family gets together - it sure doesn't happen often enough! 

A major career change

"An amazing thing happens when you get honest with yourself and start doing what you love, what makes you happy. Your life literally slows down. You stop wishing for the weekend. You stop merely looking forward to special events. You begin to live in each moment and start feeling like a human being. You just ride the wave that is life, with this feeling of contentment and joy. You move fluidly, steadily, calm and grateful. A veil is lifted, and a whole new perspective is born." - Jes Allen.

It had become apparent over time that working in an office, as a Receptionist, with no other positions opening up for me to move into was not the right place for me. It was honestly a struggle to get up each morning and to get to work each day. I felt like I was stuck and didn't have a choice of what to do with my life. Every day, going to the same job, with the same people, in the same environment - which did nothing to uplift or fulfill me. 

I had looked at countless nanny jobs but for some reason I never applied to them. I would think "Oh, this would be the best nanny job for me ... " I wasn't sure how I could prove to parents of kids that I would be their best option as a nanny. I hadn't had nanny experience since my early college days - although I have had lots of experience with kids my whole life.

Finally, it happened one morning. It happened to be a Friday morning and I woke up early. I knew that morning that I had a decision to make ... either accept that I was going to wake up every morning and go to a job that I did not like at all, or start applying to nanny jobs. I decided that the latter needed to happen. That morning, I applied to 3 nanny jobs. I heard back from one, and went on an interview Tuesday evening. The interview went okay, but I didn't walk away feeling like I got that job. They said they would let me know in the next day or two. So, I applied to 3 more nanny jobs Tuesday night.

Wednesday, we left for convention ... and Thursday morning, I received an email from someone I had applied to Tuesday evening wanting to meet with me. I scheduled a meeting for Saturday morning and then heard back from the Tuesday evening job that they had found alternate care. I went to the interview on Saturday morning and came away feeling that I needed to get that job. Within 2 hours, I had a request for a background check and another interview where I would meet the family. 

I met the family on Wednesday night and the kids were adorable and such fun! There was a 5 year old boy, 3 year old girl and 8 month old boy. The dad was in the kitchen cooking dinner and we chatted so comfortably. The mom was awesome again, too. When it was time for me to leave, the 3 year old girl asked "But, where are you going?" When I told her that I was going home to eat dinner myself she asked "Can you come back again though?" I answered "Oh, wouldn't that be so much fun? I would love that." The mom told me that she would let me know in the next day or two.

The wait: Every 2 minutes at work on Thursday, I checked my email. I finally limited myself to every 10 minutes. All. Day. Long. Luckily my boss was gone that day. I started to organize and clean out my desk and my inbox. It was that night at 8:15 pm that I got an email saying they wanted to hire me as their nanny!!!! I was ecstatic! I was beyond giddy! I was so absolutely on top of the world! 

I went into work on Friday and emailed my resignation letter to my boss. I gave a one week notice so that I would have a week off between jobs. 

It was one of the best decisions that I've made in my life. I felt like a huge weight lifted off me when I gave my notice and I knew that I would do something with my life that I love doing - working with kids. 

I encourage anyone to follow their dreams. Don't let negative self-talk or doubts get you down. If there is something that you want to do and it's not completely out of this world achievable - go for your dreams! I did and life has been wonderful! :) 

Saisha turns 1

Of course there was no way that we were going to miss our niece's first birthday! Saisha's birthday happened to be on the same weekend that Jen's Jensen family met in Sisters, OR for the weekend. Dennis and I were able to go to Sisters to visit with family and then head to Boise for Saisha's birthday party! 

Yay! Saisha clapping

 Taking the first bite of cake and not so interested in getting her hands dirty!

That's better with a fork!

The setting in Eric & Lenora's yard for Saisha's party! Complete with balloons and cake! Jon, Tamara & Kaiden, Lloyd, Jenny, Dennis and I were here at the party. It was awesome watching Saisha with her cake and the balloons. It's hard to believe that she's already one and I look forward to watching her grow more! 

This is about the best way to have my arms full - holding both Saisha and Kaiden! I love my niece and nephew so much.

Sunday lunch with Jon, Tamara & Kaiden. It's so much fun having little relations that I can see and spoil too! :)